Navigating Social Media Legal Risks: Safeguarding Your Business

Robert McHale

May 2012 · Que Publishing

About this ebook

The plain-English business guide to avoiding social media legal risks and liabilities—for anyone using social media for business—written specifically for non-attorneys!

You already know social media can help you find customers, strengthen relationships, and build your reputation, but if you are not careful, it also can expose your company to expensive legal issues and regulatory scrutiny. This insightful, first-of-its-kind book provides business professionals with strategies for navigating the unique legal risks arising from social, mobile, and online media. Distilling his knowledge into a 100% practical guide specifically for non-lawyers, author and seasoned business attorney, Robert McHale, steps out of the courtroom to review today’s U.S. laws related to social media and alert businesses to the common (and sometimes hidden) pitfalls to avoid. Best of all, McHale offers practical, actionable solutions, preventative measures, and valuable tips on shielding your business from social media legal exposures associated with employment screening, promotions, endorsements, user-generated content, trademarks, copyrights, privacy, security, defamation, and more...

You’ll Learn How To

• Craft legally compliant social media promotions, contests, sweepstakes, and advertising campaigns

• Write effective social media policies and implement best practices for governance

• Ensure the security of sensitive company and customer information

• Properly monitor and regulate the way your employees use social media

• Avoid high-profile social media mishaps that can instantly damage reputation, brand equity, and goodwill, and create massive potential liability

• Avoid unintentional employment and labor law violations in the use of social media in pre-employment screening

• Manage legal issues associated with game-based marketing, “virtual currencies,” and hyper-targeting

• Manage the legal risks of user-generated content (UGC)

• Protect your trademarks online, and overcome brandjacking and cybersquatting

• Understand the e-discovery implications of social media in lawsuits

Ratings and reviews

This book covers social media law for business, and serves as a comprehensive guide to the legal risks associated with the business use of social media including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Blogs, and more. It was especially written for business professionals, and can be used as a valuable educational and reference to assist companies of all sizes seeking to train their employees and clients on the safe and legal use of social media. I had the pleasure of contributing to the book; and I hope you find it most useful.

About the author

Robert McHale, Esq., is the founding member of R | McHale Law (rmchale.com), a full-service law firm whose corporate practice represents clients on a wide variety of IT and intellectual property law matters, including privacy and data security, trademark, copyright, trade secrets, technology licensing, and other proprietary protections. By leveraging his business instinct, technical insight, and legal experience, Robert helps companies develop legal strategies that best promote their business objectives. His areas of focus include general corporate law, business litigation, web/mobile applications, online marketing, new media, and Internet and e-commerce technology.

Robert is a member of the Massachusetts bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts.

He is a graduate of St. John’s College (BA) and Boston University School of Law (JD).

You can reach Robert at [e-mail] and follow him on Twitter at @rmchalelaw.